Otellini: Intel not impacted by weak economy

Intel Corp. president and CEO Paul Otellini says his company does not expect any negative impact from the weakening U.S. economy although the semiconductor company is keeping a wary eye on developments in the country's capital markets.

Speaking during a conference call to discuss the company's fourth quarter results, Otellini noted Intel continues to experience strong growth internationally where it generates more than 75 percent of its annual revenue.

"If there's a near term concern [about the economy] it tends to be focused on the U.S. market, especially on the capital market," Otellini said. "We and our customers don't see that spilling over at this point."

A geographic breakdown of the company's revenue showed growth concentrated in Europe, Japan and Asia-Pacific.

European sales grew more than 17 percent, to $2.23 billion from $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006. Sales to Asia-Pacific increased 10 percent to $5.4 billion from $4.9 billion and Japan expanded 12 percent, to $1.1 billion from $936 million.

The three regions accounted for 81 percent of Intel's sales during the last quarter, up from 79 percent in the final quarter of 2006.

Sales in the Americas grew 4.7 percent and accounted for 19 percent of the company's fourth quarter revenue, down from 21 percent in the year-ago quarter. Europe's share rose to 21 percent from 19 while Asia-Pacific was unchanged at 50 percent.

Otellini said recent discussions with customers at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month yielded no signs the rest of the world had been impacted by the current weakness in the U.S. economy.

"You hear all the pundits saying the world is going into a trash basket and you worry," he said. "At this point though, we don't see anything on the horizon and our customers don't see anything on the horizon. It would be imprudent not to be cautious about it though."